A 58-year-old female victim reported that she had been shopping at Publix in the 5100 block of Old Springville Road between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m
. on Friday, Jan. 25 when she became the victim of a crime, according to Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Randy Christian.
“She was approached by a lady who asked her for help reading the label on a container of juice,” Christian said. “The victim stated she stepped away from her cart and her purse to assist. When she went to check out she realized her wallet was missing. She immediately contacted her bank to cancel her debit cards. She was informed that $2,100
had been charged at Best Buy and Target.”
Christian said it had been a long time since the sheriff’s office had seen this method used in a theft.
“It’s really ashamed that your own goodwill can make you vulnerable to something like this,” Christian said. “A good practice is to keep cards, cash and valuables under your control at all times. It just takes a few seconds of distraction to become a victim of these thieves.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.